President of Republic Inaugurates Filtration Plant, Lays Foundation Stone for Aftout Coastal facilities Extension Project
His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, supervised on Monday in Beni Naaji, Keur Macène, the inauguration of a filtration plant and the laying of the foundation stone for the extension works to increase the treatment and pumping capacities of the Aftout coastal facilities, raising the production capacity from 150,000 cubic meters to 225,000 cubic meters/day.
These projects are part of the efforts aimed at strengthening water security and supplying the city of Nouakchott with drinking water.
The Beni Naaji filtration plant will contribute to reducing the turbidity of raw water coming from the river during the rainy season, and will also allow for the production of 240,000 cubic meters/day of treated water.
Work on this facility began in January 2025, executed by the Chinese company SINOHYDRO for an amount of 14,620,000 USD, over a period of 7 months followed by a 15-month semi-industrial operation period.
The facility consists of a filtration plant, a chemical treatment building, connecting and drainage pipes, as well as administrative and residential facilities.
The plant is composed of 6 treatment units, expandable to 10 units, each unit including a rapid mixing basin, a flocculation basin, and a filtration basin.
Approximately 4,200 cubic meters of concrete and 1,200 tons of reinforcing steel of 16 and 20 mm diameters were used for the construction of all these basins.
Each treatment unit is also equipped with a rapid mixer and a slow mixer, two pumps for sludge extraction and recycling, and a regulating valve.
As for the chemical treatment building, it consists of 4 units: a PAC coagulation unit, a PAM polymer unit, a chlorine unit, and a lime unit. Chemical treatment in these units is performed using 10 basins and 14 pumps, in addition to five backup pumps.
Concerning the connecting and drainage pipes: 1,610 m of steel pipes with diameters ranging from DN200 to DN1500 have been installed.
The facility includes administrative and residential facilities, a monitoring and control building, and three villas for staff accommodation.
As for the project to extend the Aftout coastal facilities, for which His Excellency the President of the Republic will lay the foundation stone this Monday, it aims to increase production from 150,000 cubic meters/day to 225,000 cubic meters/day, an increase in production of 75,000 cubic meters/day.
The project consists of the rehabilitation of the Beni Naaji treatment plant, the construction of a third settling basin in Beni Naaji, the construction of a new pumping station in N’Tékane, the equipping of the treatment plant at kilometer 17 with four additional filters, and a fifth pump for the pumping station at kilometer 17.
The financing of the project amounts to 43 million euros, provided by the French government, and its execution is entrusted to the French company RAZEL, with the work scheduled to be completed within 30 months.
His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, arrived Monday morning in the city of Keur Macène, where he was welcomed at the aircraft gangway by the wali mouçaid of Trarza, Mr. Sidi Ould Sidina Nemine, the commander of the sixth military region, Colonel Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Delloul, the president of the Trarza regional council, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh, the Hakem of the moughataa of Keur Macène, Mr. Mohamed Yeslem Ould Bouh, and the mayor of the commune, Mr. Cheikh El Moustain Ahmeyada, as well as the commands of the military and security formations of the wilaya.
His Excellency greeted the senior officials, executives, notables, and elected representatives of the moughataa of Keur Macène and the wilaya of Trarza, who welcomed him.
The residents of the city of Keur Macène reserved a warm popular welcome for His Excellency the President of the Republic, lining the main road to the entrance of the city, brandishing enlarged photos of His Excellency, slogans of welcome, and banners saluting the achievements accomplished at the national level in general and at the level of the wilaya of Trarza, in particular.
His Excellency the President of the Republic had left Nouakchott earlier this morning to travel to the village of Beni Naaji, in the moughataa of Keur Macène, to inaugurate the filtration facility and the laying of the foundation stone for the Aftout coastal facilities extension project